Well it has certainly been a busy summer here at Stockley Farm, not just with the horses but moving the yard,  all be it from one end of the yard to the other! For those that have visited Stockley Farm over the summer you will have noticed the building work going on. The top court yard stables are now in the process of being converted into offices. The stables at the bottom of the yard have been reconfigured to fit in extra boxes and a new office has been built central to the yard, ideal  for Kerry to keep an eye on everything that is happening! It has made the space we work in a lot more efficient and useable and the horses seem to be very settled with the new layout and Kerry very happy with the new coffee machine for her office! 

In between choosing flooring, wall paint and kitchen units for the new building and tack rooms Helen has also managed to get out competing with Alfie! 

At the end of July Alfie finally contested his long awaited first advanced class and he didn’t disappoint. A respectable dressage, one down showjumping with some time faults and a clear cross country   making the step up a level feel well within his capabilities. Off the back of a good run at Aston they then headed to Hartpury last week for the cci4* short. Again, a respectable dressage but with some green errors. When established at this level Alfie should be capable of a really smart test. In the showjumping they both  got into gear and jumped a clear round inside the time. X country Helen couldn’t have asked more of Alfie, he was on fire and jumped all the big, difficult combinations with such honesty. Having jumped clear as they successfully negotiated the bank combination at fence twenty they were heading for home with only four fences left to jump when disaster struck…. as Alfie galloped over the road crossing his legs disappeared from underneath  him and suddenly both Helen and Alfie had hit the deck. The surface on the road was loose and having somehow managed to lose both his front shoes earlier on the course he really didn’t stand a chance of staying upright. Understandably annoyed and frustrated both Horse and rider escaped the incident unscathed which with both of their history of injuries is quite a miracle! So onwards and upwards to Gatcombe horse trials in September. 

On a separate note all of us here at Stockley Farm wish to send our deepest condolences to Cory Nicholson’s parents and family. Cory was a good friend to mny of us here at Stockley. He regularly visited the yard and was always happy to lend a hand. Cory had been at the yard helping us out moving stable mats on the morning he tragically died in a swimming accident later in the day. We all miss him here at Stockley Farm and will forever remember him with great fondness. RIP Cory X